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5. Res. 186 i- ir(, r 1 1 iA^_*. ., \ 



4 4 



AMNESTY PEOCLAMATION 



THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE 

op j 

President of the Ignited States, 



Read in Congress, Wednesday, Decembsr 9, 1863. 



3 



■ li rs: 



AHESTY PROCLAIATM OF THE PRESIDENT. 



Proclamation : AVhereas, in and by the Constitution 
of the United States, it is provided that the President 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offenses against the United States, except in cases of im- 
peachment ; and whereas a rebellion now exists whereby 
the loyal State governments of several States have for 
a long time been subverted, and many persons have com- 
mitted and are now^ guilty of treason against the United 
States ; and whereas with reference to said rebellion and 
treason, laws have been enacted by Congress declaring 
forfeiture and confiscation of property and liberation of 
slaves all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and 
also declaring that the President was thereby authorized, 
at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to ' 
persons who may have participated in thg existing re- 
bellion in any State, or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, 
with such exceptions and at such times and on such con- 
ditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare; 
and 

Whereas, the Congressional declaration for limited 
and conditional pardon accords with well-established 
judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and 

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion the Presi- 
dent of the United States has issued several proclama- 
tions with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves ; 
and ' 



Whereas, it is now desired hy some persons, hereto- 
fore engaged in said rebellion, to resume their allegiance 
to the United States and to reinaugurate loyal State 
governments within and for their respective States : 

Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, do proclaim, declare and make known to all per- 
sons who have directly or by impheation participated in 
the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, 
lli.it a FULL PARDON is hereby granted to them and each 
of iliem, with restoration of all rights of property, except 
as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third 
Ijarties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that 
ever}" such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and 
thenceforward keep and maintain said oath in\i()late, and 
which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, 
and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit : 

'■' I, , do solemnly swear in presence of Al- 
mighty God that I will henceforth faithfully support, pro- 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and 
the Union of the States thereunder, and that I will in like 
manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress 
passed during the existing rebellion, with reference to 
slaves, so long and so ftir as not repealed, modified, or 
held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme 
Court, and that I will in like manner abide by and faith- 
fully support all proclamations of the President made 
during the existing rebellion, having reference to slaves, 
so long and so far as not modified or declared void by 
decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God." 

The persons excepted from the benefits of the fore- 
going provisions are all who are or shall have been civil 
or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confede- 
rate Government; all who have left judicial stations under 
the United States to aid the rebellion ; all who are or shall 



have been military or naval onicers of said so-called Con- 
federate Government above tbe rank of Colonel in the 
r.rmy or of Lieutenant in the nav}^; all who left seats in the 
United States Congress to aid the rebellion ; all who re- 
signed their commissions in the army or navy of the 
United .States, and afterward aided the rebellion ; and 
all who have engaged, in any way, in treating colored 
persons, or white persj3ns in charge of such, otherwise 
than lawfully, as prisoners of war, and which persons 
may have been found in the United States service, as 
soldiers, seamen or in any other capacity. 

And I do further proclaim, declare and make known, 
that whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, 
Louisiana, jNIississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, 
Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, a number 
of persons, not less than one-tenth in number of the 
votes cast in such State at the Presidential election of 
the year of our Lord 1860, each having taken the oath 
aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a 
qualified voter by the election law of the State, existing 
immediately before the so-called Act of Secession, and 
excluding all others, shall re-establish a State Govern- 
ment which shall be republican, and in nowise contra- 
vening said oath, such shall 1)e recognized, as the true 
government of the State, and the State shall receive 
thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision, 
which declares that the United States shall guarantee to 
every State in this Union a republican form of govern- 
ment, and shall protect each of them against invasion, 
and on application of the Legislature, or the executive 
when the Legislature cannot be convened, against domes- 
tic violence. 

And T do Cni'tlier iirorlaiiii. declfn'c and make known, 



that any provi^iioii which may be adopted by such State 
Government, in relation to the IVecd people of such State, 
which shall recognize and declare their permanent free- 
dom, provide for their education, and which may yet be 
consistent, as a temporary aiTangement, with their present 
condition, as a laboring, landless and homeless class, will 
not be objected to by the National Executive. And it 
is suggested as not improper that in constructing a loyal 
State Government in any State, the name of the State, 
the boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution and the 
general code of laws as before the rebellion be main- 
tained, subject only to the modifications made necessary 
by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if 
any, not contravening the. said conditions, and which may 
be deemed expedient by those framing the new State 
Government. 

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say 
that this proclamation, so far as it relates to State Gov- 
ernments, has no reference to the States wherein loyal 
State Governments have all the while been maintained. 

And for the same reason it may be proper to further 
say that whether members sent to Congress from any 
State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, rests 
exclusively with the respective houses, and not to any 
extent with the Executive. And still further, that this 
proclamation is intended to present the people of the 
States wherein the National authority has been suspended 
and the loyal State Governments have been subverted, 
a mode in and by which the National authority and 
loyal State Governments may be re-established within 
said States or in any of them, and while the mode 
presented is the best the Executive can suggest with his 



present impressions, it must not be understood that no 
other possible mode would be acceptable. 

Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the 
eighth day of December, A.D. one thousand eight liun- 
dred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the eighty-eighth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President, 
Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 



THIRD ANNUAL MEME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

rRP]SIDEXT OF TIIK UNITED STATES, 
Read in Congress, Wednesday, December 9, 1863. 



Felloio-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

Another year of health and of sufficiently abundant har- 
vests has passed. For these, and especially for the improved 
condition of our National affairs, our renewed and profound- 
cst gratitude to God is due. 

We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers. 

The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to in- 
volve us in foreign wars to aid an inexcusable insurrection, have 
been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty's Government, as 
was justly expected, have exercised their authority to prevent 
the departure of new hostile expeditions from British ports. 
The Emperor of France has by a like proceeding promptly 
vindicated the neutrality which he proclaimed at the beginning 
of the contest. Questions of great intricacy and importance 
have arisen out of the blockade and other belligerent opera- 
tions between the Government and several of the maritime 
powers, but they have been discussed, and, as far as was possi- 
ble, accommodated in a spirit of frankness, justice, and mutual 
good-will. It is especially gratifying that our Prize Courts, 
by the impartiality of their adjudications, have commanded the 
respect and confidence of maritime powers. 

The Supplemental treaty hctwccn the United States and Great Britain 
for the suppression of the African slave trade, made on the 17th day of 
February last, has been duly ratified and carried into execution. It is 
believed that so far as American ports and American citizens arc con- 
cerned, that inhuman and odious trafBc has been brought to an end. 

I shall submit for the consideration of the Senate a convention for the 
adjustment of Possessory Claims, in "Washington Territory, arising out of 
the treaty of the 15th of June, 1846, between the United States and 
Great Britain, and which have been the source of some disquiet among 
the citizens of that now rapidly improving part of the country. 

A novel and important question involving the extent of the maritime 
jurisdiction of Spain in the waters which surround the Island of Culja, 
has been debated without reachinr; any agreement, and it is proposed, in 
an amicable spirit, to refer it to tne arbitrament of a friendly power. A 
convention for that purpose will be submitted to the Senate. 



8 

I have thuught it: proper, subject to the approval of the Senate, to con- 
cur ^Yith the interested Commercial Powers in an arrangement for the i 
liquidation of the Scheldt dues upon the principles which have been here- 
toibre adopted in regard to the imposts upon navigation, in the waters of 
J)enmark. The long pending controversy between this Government and 
that of Chili touching the seizure at Sitana, in Peru, by Chilian officers, 
(if a large amount in treasure, belonging to citizens of the United States, 
has been brought to a close by the award of his majesty the King of the 
Belgians, to whose arbitration the question was referred by the parties. 
The subject was thoroughly and patiently examined liy that justly re- ' 
spectcd magistrate, and although the sum awarded to the claimants may 
not have been as large as they expected, there is no reason to distrust tho 
wisdom of his majesty's decision. That decision was promptly complied 
with by Chili, when intelligence in regard to it reached that country. 

The joint commission under the act of the last session for carrying into 
effect the convention with Peru on the subject of claims, has been organ- 
ized at Lima, and is engaged in the business entrusted to it. 

Difficulties concerning inter-oceanic transit through Nicaragua are in 
course of amicable adjustment. 

In conformity with the principles set forth in my last annual message 
I have received a representative fronx the United States of Columbia, and ; 
have credited a minister to that republic. 

Incidents occurring in the progress of our civil war have forced upon 
my attention the uncertain state of international questions touching the 
rights of foreigners in this country, and of United States citizens abroad. 
In regard to some governments these rights are at least partially defined 
by treaties. In no instance, however, is it expressly stipulated, that in 
the event of civil war a foreigner residing in this country, within the 
line of the insurgents, is to be exempted from the rule which classes him 
a8 a belligerent, in whose behalf the Government of his country cannot 
expect any privileges or immunities distinct from that character. I re- . 
gret to say, however, that such claims have been put forward and in some 
instances in behalf of foreigners who have lived in the United States the [ 
greater part of their lives. 

There is reason to believe that many persons born in foreign countries 
who have declared their intention to ])ecome citizens or who have been fully 
naturalized, have evaded the military duty required of them by denying 
the fact, and thereby throwing upon the Government the burden of proof. 
It has been found difficult or impracticable to obtain this proof from the ' 
want of guides to the proper sources of information. These might be 
supplied by requiring the Clerks of Courts where declarations of intention 
may be made or naturalization effected, to send periodically lists of the 
names of the persons naturalized or declaring their intention to become 
citizens, to the Secretary of the Interior, in whose Department those names 
might be arranged and printed for general information. There is also 
reason to believe that foreigners frequently become citizens of the United 
States for the sole purpose of evading duties imposed by the laws of 
their native country-, to which, on becoming naturalized here, they at once 
repair, and though never returning to the United States, they still claim 
the interposition of this Government as citizens. 

Many altercations and great prejudices have heretofore arisen out of 
this abuse. It is, therefore, submitted to your serious consideration. It 
might be advisable to fix a limit beyond which no citizen of the United 
States, residing abroad, may claim ihe interposition of his government. 
'I'he right of suffrage has often been assumed and exercised by aliens, 
under prctcmjCo of naturalization which they have disavowed when drafted 



nto the military service. I submit the expediency of such an amend- 
nent of the laws as will make the fact of votinj;^ an estoppel against any 
)lea of exemption from military service or other civil obligations on the 
^•ound of alienage. 

In common with other Western Powers, our relations with Japan have 
)een brought into serious jeopardy throixgh the perverse opposition of the 
lereditary aristocracy of the Empire to the enlightened and liberal policy 
•f the Tycoon, designed to bring the country into the society of nations. 
'.t is be hoped, although not with entire coniidence, that these difficulties 
nay be peacefully overcome. 

I ask your attention to the claim of the minister residing there for the 
lamages he sustained in the destruction, by fire, of the residence of the 
egation at Yeddo. 

Satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Emperor of Russia, 
vhich it is believed will result in effecting a continuous line of telegraph 
lirough that Empire from our Pacific coast. I recommend to your favor- 
ible consideration the subject of an international telegraph across the 
Atlantic Ocean and also of a telegraph between this Capital and the Na- 
lional forts along the Atlantic Seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. Such 
'ommunications established with any reasonable outlay would be economi- 
;al as well as effective aids to the diplomatic, military, and naval service. 

The consular system of the United States under the enactments of the 
ast Congress begins to be self-sustaining, and there is reason to hope that 
t may become entirely so with the increase of trade which will ensue 
whenever peace is restored. 

Our ministers abroad have been faithful in defending American rights.. 
[n protecting commercial interests, our consuls have necess;irily had 
to encounter increased labors and responsibilities growing out of the war. 
rhese they have, for the most part, met and discharged with zeal and effi- 
ciency. This acknowledgment justly includes those consuls who, residing 
in Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, China, and other oriental countries, 
are charged wi4h complex functions and extraordinary powers. 

The condition of the several organized Territories is generally 
satisfactory, although the Indian disturbances in New Mexico 
liave not been entirely suppressed. The mineral resources of 
Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico and Arizona are proving 
far richer than has been heretofore understood. I lay before 
you a communication on this subject from the Governor of New 
iMexico. I again submit to your consideration the expediency 
of establishing a system for the encouragement of immigration. 
Although this source of national wealth and strength is again 
flowing with greater freedom than for several years before the 
insurrection occurred, there is still a great deficiency of laborers 
in every field of industry, especially in agriculture and in our 
mines, as well of iron and coal, as of the precious metals. While 
the demand for labor is thus increased here, tens of thousands 
of persons, destitute of remunerative occupation, are thronging 
our foreign consulates and offering to emigrate to the United 
States, if essential, but very cheap, assistance can be afforded 
them. It is easy to see that under the sharp discipline of civil 
war, the nation is beginning a new life. This noble effort de- 



10 

mands the aid and ought to receive the attention and support 
of the Government. 

Injuries unforeseen by the Governroent, and unintended, 
may in some cases have been inflicted on the subjects or citi- 
zens of foreign countries, both at sea and on hmd, by persons. 
in the service of the United States. As this Government ex- 
pects redress from other powers when similar injuries are in- ' 
flicted by persons in their service upon citizens of the United 
States, we must be prepared to do justice to foreigners. 

If the existing judicial tribunals are inadequate to this pur- 
pose a special court may bo authorized, with po.wer to hear and ' 
decide such claims of the character referred to, as may have 
arisen under treaties and the public law. Conventions for ad-"^! 
justing the claims by joint commission have been proposed to 
some governments, but no definitive answer to the proposition 
has yet been received from any. 

In the course of the session I shall probably have occasion 
to request you to provide indemnification to claimants where 
decrees of restitution have been rendered and damages awarded 
by Admiralty Courts. And in other cases where this Gov- 
ernment may be acknowledged to be liable in principle and' 
where the amount of that liability has been ascertained by an 
informal arbitration. The proper officers of the Treasury have \ 
deemed themselves required by the law of the United States 
upon the subject, to demand a tax upon the incomes of foreign 
Consuls in this country. "While such a demand may not, in , 
strictness, be in derogation -of public law, or perhaps of any 
existing treaties between the United States and a foreign coun- , 
try, the expediency of so far modifying the act as to exempt •, 
from tax the income of such Consuls as are not citizens of the ■ 
United States, derived from the emoluments of their office or- J 
from property not situated in the United States, is submitted } 
to your serious consideration. I make this suggestion upon , 
the ground that a comity which ought to be reciprocated ex- ' 
empts our Consuls in all other countries from taxation. To 
the extent thus indicated, the United States, I think, ought ' 
not to be exceptionally illiberal to international trade and com- • 
merce. | 

The operations of the Treasury during the last year have , 
been successfully conducted. The enactment by Congress of ', 
a National Banking Law has proved a valuable support of the 
public credit, and the general legislation in relation to loans has 
fully answered the expectations of its favorers. Some amend- ! 
ments may be required to perfect existing laws, but no change 
in their principles or general scope is believed to be needed. 

Since these measures have been in operation all demands on 



11 

the Treasury, including the pay of the army and navy, have 
"been promptly met and fully satisfied. No considerable body 
of troops, it is believed, were ever more amply provided and 
more liberally and punctually paid, and it may be added that 
by no people were the burdens incident to a great Avar ever 
more cheerfully borne. 

The receipts during the year from all sources, including loans 
and the balance in the Treasury at its commencement, were 
$901,125,674 86, and the aggregate disbursements $89r>,706,- 
630 65, leaving a balance on the 1st of July, 1863, of $5,329,- 
044 21. 

Of the receipts there were derived from Customs, $69,059,- 
642 40. From Internal Revenue, $37,640,787 95. From 
Direct Taxes, $1,485,103 61. From Lands, $167,617 17. 
From miscellaneous sources, $3,046,615 35; and from Loans, 
$776,682,361 57,— making the aggregate $901,125,674 86. 

Of the disbursements there were for the civil service 
$23,253,922 08 ; for pensions and Indians, $4,216,520 79 ; 
for interest on public debt, $24,729,846 51; for the War 
Department, $599,298,600 83 ; for the Navy Department, 
$63,211,105 27 ; for payment of funded and temporary debt, 
$181,086,635 07,— making the aggregate $895,796,630 65, 
and leaving the balance of $5,329,044 21. But the payments of 
the funded and temporary debt having been made from moneys 
borrowed during the year, must be regarded as merely nominal 
payment, and the moneys borrowed to make them, as merely 
nominal receipts, and their amount, $181,086,635 07, should, 
therefore, be deducted both from the receipts and disburse- 
ments. This being done, there remains as actual receipts 
$720,039,039 79 ; and the actual disbursements, $714,700,- 
995 58, leaving the balance as already stated. 

The actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter, 
and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the remain- 
ing three-quarters of the current fiscal year, 1864, will be 
shown in detail by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
to which I invite your attention. 

It is sufficient to say here that it is not believed that the 
actual results will exhibit a state of the finances less favorable 
to the country than the estimates of that officer heretofore sub- 
mitted, while it is confidently expected that at the close of the 
year both disbursements and debts will be found very consider- 
ably less than has been anticipated. 

The report of the Secretary of War is a docum^t of great 
interest. It consists of 



Second — The organization of colored persons into the war 
service. 

Tldrd — The exchange of prisoners fully set forth in the 
letter of General Hitchcock. 

Fourth — The operations under the act for enrolling and call- 
ing out the national forces detailed in the report of the Pro- 
vost Marshal General. 

Fiftli — The organization of the Invalid Corps ; and 

Sixth — The operation of the several departments of the 
Quartermaster-General, Commissary-General, Paymaster-Gen- 
eral, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon- 
General. 

It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of 
this report, except such as would be too extended for this place, 
and hence I content myself by asking your careful attention 
report itself. 

The duties devolving on the naval branch of the service 
during the year and throughout the whole of this unhappy con- 
test, have been discharged with fidelity and eminent success. 

The extensive blockade has been constantly increasing in 
efficiency, as the navy has expanded ; yet on so long a line it 
has so far been impossible to entirely suppress illicit trade. 

From the returns received at the Navy Department it ap- 
pears that more than 1,000 vessels have been captured since 
the blockade was instituted, and that the value of prizes already 
sent in for adjudication amounts to over §13,000,000. 

The naval force of the United States consists, at this time, 
of 588 vessels completed and in the course of completion ; and 
of these, 75 are iron-clad or armored steamers. The events 
of the war give an increased interest and importance to the 
navy, which will probably extend beyond the war itself. 

The armored vessels in our navy, completed and in service, 
or Avhich are under contract and approaching completion, are 
believed to exceed in number those of any other power ; but 
while these may be relied upon for harbor defense and coast 
service, others of greater strength and capacity will be necessary 
for cruising purposes, and to maintain our rightful position on 
the ocean. The change that has taken place in naval vessels 
and naval warfare since the introduction of steam as a motive 
power for ships of war, demands either a corresponding change 
in some of our existing Navy Yards or the establishment of 
new ones for the construction and necessary repaii'S of modern 
naval vessel^. No inconsiderable embarrasment, delay, and pub- 
lic injury have been experienced from the want of such Govern- 
ment establishments. 



The necessity of such ;i Navy Yard so furnished at some suit- 
able place upon the Atlantic seaboard has, on repeated occa- 
sions, been brought to the attention of Congress by the Navy 
Department, and is again presented in the report of tlic Sccrc- 
tar}^, which accompanies this communication. I think it niv 
duty to invite your special attention to this subject, and also 
to that of establishing a yard and dci)()t for naval purposes 
upon one of the Western rivers. A naval force has been created 
on those interior -waters, and under many disadvantages, 
within little more than two years, exceeding in numbers the 
whole naval force of the country at the commencement of the 
present Administration. Satisfactory and important as have 
been the performances of the heroic men of the navy at this 
interesting period, they are scarcely more wonderful than the 
success of our mechanics and artisans in the production of war 
vessels, which has created a new form of naval power. 

Our country has advantages superior to any other nation in 
our resources of iron and timber, with inexhaustilde quantities 
of fuel in the immediate vicinity of both, and all available and 
in close proximity to navigable waters. Without the advantage 
of public works, the resources of the nation have been developed 
and its power displayed in the construction of a navy of such 
magnitude, which has at the very period of its creation ren- 
dered signal service to the Union. 

The increase of the number of seamen in the public service 
from 7,500 men in the spring of 1861, to about 34,000 at the 
present time, has been accomplished without special legislation 
or extraordinary bounties. To promote that increase, it has been 
found, however, that the operation of the draft, with the high 
bounties paid for army recruits, is beginning to affect injuri- 
ously the naval service, and will, if not corrected, be likely to 
impair its efficiency by detaching seamen from their proper 
vocation, and inducing them to enter the army. I therefore 
respectfully suggest that Congress might aid both the army 
and naval services by a definite provision on this subject, which 
would at the same time be equitable to the communities more 
especially interested. 

I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the 
Secretary of the Navy in regard to the policy of fostering and 
training seamen, and also the education of officers and engi- 
neers for the naval service. The Naval Academy is rendering 
signal service in preparing midshipmen for the highly respon- 
sible duties which in after life they will be required to perform. 

In order that the country should not be deprived of the pro- 
per quota of educated officeris, for which legal provision has 



11 

been made at the Xaval School, the vacancies caused by the 
neglect or omission to make nominations from the States in 
insm-rection have been filled by the Secretary of the Navy. 
The School is now more full and complete than at any former 
period, and in every respect entitled to the favorable consider- 
ation of Congress. 

During the past fiscal year the financial condition of the 
Post-office Department has been one of increasing prosperity, 
and I am gratified in being able to state that the actual postal 
revenue has nearly equaled the entire expenditures, the latter 
amounting to §11,314,006 84, and the former to 111,163,789 
59, leaving a deficiency of but §150,417 25. In 1860, the 
year inuncdiately preceding the rebellion, the deficiency 
amounted to §5,656,705 49, the postal receipts of that year 
being §2,645,722 19 less than those of 1863. The decrease 
since 1860, in the annual amount of transportation has been 
only about 25 per cent., but the annual expenditure on account 
of the same has been reduced 35 per cent. It is manifest, 
therefore, that the Post-office Department may become self- 
sustaining in a few years, even with the restoration of the whole 
service. 

The International Conference of postal delegates from the 
principal countries of Europe and America, which was called 
at the suggestion of the Postmaster-General, met at Paris on 
the 11th of May last, and concluded its deliberations on the 
8th of June. The principles established by the conference as 
best adapted to facilitate postal intercourse between nations, 
and as the basis of future postal conventions, inaugurate a gene- 
ral system of uniform inteimational charges at reduced rates of 
postage and cannot fail to produce beneficial results. 

I refer you to the report of the Secretary of th*e Interior, 
Avhicli is herewith laid before you, for useful and varied in- 
formation in relation to the Public Lands, Indian Afi*airs, 
Patents, Pensions, and other matters of public concern per- 
taining to his Department. The quantity of land disposed of 
during the last and the first quarter of the present fiscal years 
was 3,841,549 acres, of which 161,911 acres were sold for cash, 
1,456,514 acres were taken up under the homestead law, and 
the residue disposed of under laws granting lands for military 
bounties, for railroad and other purposes. It also appears that 
the sale of the public lands is largely on the increase. It has 
long been a cherished opinion of some of our wisest statesmen 
that the people of the United States had a higher and more 
enduring interest in the early settlement and substantial cul- 
tivation of the public lands, than in the amount of direct revenue 



15 

to be derived from the sale of them. This opinion has had a 
controlling influence in shaping legislation upon the subject of 
our national domain. I may cite as evidence of this the "liberal 
measures adopted in reference to actual settlers. The f'rant 
to the States of the overflowed lands within their limits, in 
order to their being reclaimed and rendered fit for cultivation, 
the grant to railroad companies of alternate sections of land 
upon the contemplated lines of their roads, when completed, 
will largely multiply the facilities for reaching our distant pos- 
sessions. This policy has received its most signal and benefi- 
cent illustration in the recent enactment granting homesteads 
to actual settlers. Since the 1st of January last the before- 
mentioned quantity of 1,456,514 acres of land have been taken 
up under its provisions. This fact and the amount of sales 
furnish gratifying evidence of increasing settlement upon the 
public lands, notwithstanding the great struggle in which the 
energies of the Nation have been engaged and which has re- 
quired so large a withdrawal of our citizens from their accus- 
tomed pursuits. 

I cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary 
of the Interior, suggesting a modification of the act in favor of 
those engaged in the military and naval service of the United 
States. I doubt not that Congress will cheerfully adopt such 
measures as will, without essentially changing the general fea- 
tures of the system, secure to the greatest practicable extent, 
its benefits to those who have left their homes in the defense 
of the country in this arduous crisis. 

I invite your attention to the views of the Secretary, as to 
the propriety of raising, by appropriate legislation, a reve- 
nue from the miileral lands of the United States. 

The measures provided, at your last session, for the removal 
of certain Indian tribes, have been carried into eficct. Sundry 
treaties have been negotiated, which will, in due time, be sub- 
mitted for the constitutional action of the Senate. They con- 
tain stipulations for extinguishing the possessory rights of the 
Indians to large and valuable tracts of land. 

It is hoped that the efiects of these treaties will result in 
the establishment of a permanent friendly relation with such 
of these tribes as have been brought into frequent and bloody 
collisions with our out-lying settlements and emigrants. Sound 
policy, and our imperative duty to these wards of the Govern- 
ment, demand our anxious and constant attention to their 
material well-being, to their progress in the arts of civiliza- 
tion, and, above all, to that moral training, which, under the 
blessing of Divine Providence, will confer upon them the clc- 



16 ■ 

vjitod unci saiictifyiijg inllucnces, the hope and tonaolation v. 
the Christian faith. 

I suggested, in my last annual message, the propriety c 
remodeling our Indian system. Subsequent events have satie 
tied me of its necessity. The details set forth in the rcpor 
of the Secretary evince the urgent need for immediate legit 
lativc action. 

I commend the benevolent institutions established or patror 
ized by the Government in this District, to your generous an 
fostering care. 

The attention of Congress, during the last session, was cr 
gaged to some extent with a proposition for enlarging the watc 
communications between the Mississippi river and the Nortl 
eastern seaboard, which proposition, however, failed for th 
time. Since then, upon a call of the greatest respectabilit;' 
a convention has been held at Chicago upon the same subjec 
A summary of whose views is contained in a memorial addresse 
to the President and Congress, and which I now have the hone 
to lay before you. That this interest is one which, ere lon| 
will force its own way, I do not entertain a doubt, while it 
submitted entirely to your wisdom, as to what can be doii 
now. 

Augmented interest is given to the subject by the actual con 
mencement of work upon the Pacific llailroad, under auspic( 
so favorable to its rapid progress and completion. The ei 
larged navigation becomes a palpable need to the great road. 

1 transmit the second annual report of the Commissioner < 
the Department of Agriculture, asking your attention to tl: 
developments in that vital interest of the nation. 

When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had alread 
lastedncarly twenty months, and there had been many coniiic 
on both land and sea., with varying results. The rebellion hn 
been pressed back into reduced limits, yet the tone of publ 
feeling and opinion, at home and abroad, was not satisfactor 

With other signs, the popular elections, then just passci 
indicated uneasiness among ourselves ; while, amid much th; 
was cold and menacing, the kindest words coming from Euroj 
were uttered in accents of pity — that we were too blind i 
surrender a hopeless cause. Our commerce wa.s sufFerir 
greatly by a few armed vessels, built upon and furnished fro 
foreign shores, and we were threatened with such additioi 
from the same quarter as would sweep our trade from the se 
and raise our blockade. We had failed to elicit from tl 
European governments anything hopeful upon the subject. 

The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued in Se: 



17 

toiiiber, was running its assigned period to tlie be^Mnnin^^ oftli.' 
new year; a month later the final proclamation came, including' 
the announcement that colored men, of suitable (Condition, 
would be received into the war service. 

The policy of emancipation and of employing black soldiers 
gave to the future a new aspect, about which hope and fear 
and doubt contended in uncertain conflict. 

According to our political system, as a matter. of civil ad- 
ministration, the general government had no lawful power to 
eft'ect emancipation in any State, and for a long time it had 
been hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed without re- 
sorting to it as a military measure. 

It was all the while deemed possible that the necessity for it 
might come, and that if it should, the crisis of the contest 
would then be presented. It came, and as was anticipated, 
it vras followed by dark and doubtful days. Eleven months 
liMving now passed, we are permitted to take another review. 
The rebel borders are pressed still further back, and by the 
complete opening of the Mississippi, the country dominated 
by the rebellion is divided into distant parts, with no practical 
communication between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have 
been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential 
citizens in each, owners of slaves, and advocates of slavery, at 
at the beginning of the rebellion, now declare openly for 
emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not 
included in the Emancipation Proclamation, ^laryland and 
Missouri, neither of which, three years ago, would tolerate any 
restraint upon the extension of slavery into the new territo- 
ries, only dispute now as to the best mode of removing it Avithin 
their own limits. 

Of those who were slaves at the beginning' of the rebellion, 
full 100,000 are now in the United States militai-y service, 
about one-half of which number actually bear arms in the ranks, 
thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labor from 
the insurgent cause, and supplying the places which otherwise 
must be filled witli so many white men. So far as tested it is 
difficult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. No 
servile insurrection or t^nden^y to violence or cruelty has 
marked the measm-es of emancipation and arming the blacks 
these measures have been much discussed in foreign countries. 
Ootemporary with such discussion the tone of public sentiment 
there is much improved. At home the same measures have 
been fully discussed, supported, criticised, and denounced; and 
the annual elections following are highly encouraging to those 
whose official duty it is to bear the country through this great 
trial. 



Thus wo have the now rockoning. The crisis whicli threat 
ened to divide the friends of the Union is past. 

Looking noAV to the present and future, and with referencf 
to a resumption of the national authority within the States 
wherein that authority has heen suspended, I have thought fi' 
to issue a prochimation, a copy of which is herewith tran.> 
initted. On examination of this prochimation, it will appear 
as is believed, that nothing is attempted beyond what is amph 
justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an oath ii 
given, l)ut no man is coerced to take it. A man is only promisee 
a pardon in case he voluntarily Takes the oath. The Constitu 
tion autliorizes the Executive to grant or withhold the pardor 
at his own absolute discretion, and this includes the power t' 
grant on terms, as is fully establislied by judicial and othej 
authorities. 

It is also proffered that if in any of the States named, a Stat( 
Government shall be in the mode proscribed set up, such gov 
ernment shall be recognized and guaranteed by the Unitec 
States, and that under it the State shall, on the constitutiona 
conditions be protected against invasion and domestic violence 
The Constitutional obligation of the United States to guaran 
tee to every State in the Union a republican form of govern 
ment and to protect the State in the cases stated, is explici 
and full. But why tender the benefits of this provision onh 
to a State Government sot up in this particular way 'i Thi: 
section of the Constitution contemplates a case wherein th( 
element within a State favorable to a Republican Governmen 
in the Union, may be too feeble for an opposite and hostile ele 
ment, external to or even within the State : and such are pre 
cisely the cases with which we are now dealing. 

An attempt to guarantee and protect a revised State Gov 
ernment constructed in whole or in preponderating part fron 
the very element against whose hostility and violence it is to b( 
protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test by which t< 
separate the opposing elements so as to build only from th( 
sound ; and that test is a sufficiently liberal one which accept, 
as sound, whoever will make a sworn recantiition of his formei 
unsoundness. 

But if it be proper to require as a test of admission to th( 
])olitical body an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of th( 
United States, and to the Union under it, why also to the law: 
and proclamations in regard to slavery ? Those laws ant 
proclamations were enacted and put forth for the purpose o: 
aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To give them theii 
fullest oftcct there had to be a pledge for their maintenance 



19 

In my judgment tlioy have ai.lc.l, ami will further ■.u>], ilie cau3e 
for which they were intended. To now ahandon them would 
be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would also be a 
cruel and astounding breach of faith. I may add at this point, 
that while I remain in my present position, I shall not attempt 
to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation ; nor 
shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms 
of the Proclamation or by any act of Congress. For these and 
other reasons, it is thought best that support of these mea- 
sures shall be included in the oath ; and it is believed the Ex- 
ecutive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and resto- 
ration of forfeited rights, which he has clear constitutional 
power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which 
he shall deem wisest for the public interest. It should be ob- 
served also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modi- 
fying and abrogating power of legislation, and supreme judi- 
cial decision. 

The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in 
any reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed 
people, is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion 
and destitution which must at best attend all chisses by a total 
revolution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that 
the already deeply afflicted people in those States may be some- 
w^hat more ready to give up the cause of their affliction if, to 
this extent, this vital matter be left to themselves, while no 
power of the National Executive to prevent an abuse is abridged 
l3y the proposition. 

The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the 
political framework of the States on what is called reconstruc- 
tion, is made in the hope that it may do good without the dan- 
ger of harm. It will save labor and avoid great confusion. But 
why any proclamation novi upon this subject? This question 
is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be de- 
layed too long or be taken too soon. In some States the ele- 
ments for resumption seem ready for action, but remain inac- 
tive apparently for w.ant of a rallying point — a plan of action. 

Why shall A adopt the plan of^B rather than B that of A? 
And if A and B should agree, how can they know but that the 
General Government here Avill reject their plan V By the proc- 
lamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them 
as a rallying point, and which they are assured in advance will 
not be rejected here. This may bring them to act sooner than 
they otherwise Avould. 

The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by the 
National Executive consists in the dans-er of committals on 



points -R-liich could )>o more safely left to further developments, i 
Oare has been taken to so shape the document as to avoid em- | 
barrassment from this source. ! 

In saying that on certain terms certain classes "will be par- 
doned Avith rights restored, it is not said that other classes on ! 
other terms Avill never be included. Saying that reconstruc- j 
tion will be accepted if presented in a specified way, it is not j 
said that it will never be accepted in any other way. j 

The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several 
of the States not included in the Emancipation Proclamation, 
are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not re- i 
peat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon 
this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged, i 
and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aid- ; 
ing these important steps to a great consummation. 

In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not ] 
lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reli- 1 
ance — to that poAver alone can Ave look yet for a time to give . 
confidence to the ))eople in the contested regions that the in-j 
surgent poAver Avill not again OA'eiTun them. Until that confi-i 
dence shall be established little can be done anyAvhere for Avhat 
is called Reconstruction ; hence, our chiefest care must still be ' 
directed to tlie army and navy, Avho have thus far boi'ne their i 
harder part so nobly and Avell. And it may be esteemed for- ! 
tunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispen-i 
sable arms, Ave do also honorably recognize the gallant men, i 
from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to Avhom ; 
more than to others the Avorld must stand indebted for the ' 
home of freedom, disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged and! 
perpetuated. 

Abraham Lincoln, i 

December 8, 1863. j 



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